It has become fashionable to subject furniture and other objects/fixtures or surfaces of walls or flooring of a structure, such as a residence to a design style or technique sometimes referred to as distressing or antiquing. These design styles are intended to “age” the surface of the item or object treated to achieve a unique and/or rustic look. In one aspect of this design style, the surface of the item may be subjected to operations such as sanding, denting, and/or scraping. Typically these types of operations would be performed on furniture or other items, including walls or flooring that are composed of a cellulose-containing material, such as wood and composite board to produce a distressed surface.
Aspects of a distressed surface can include random irregularities formed in the surface of a material, such as variations relating to depth, width and length of the formed surface irregularity by a tool brought into contact with the material surface, as well as random locations along the surface of the material being scraped. In addition, imperfections are typically desirable, and can occur in response to variations, especially abrupt changes, in mechanical properties of a material having a surface to be distressed. Such changes or variations in mechanical properties could relate to density or hardness of the material. Examples include knots, burls and changes in grain direction, such as commonly associated with wood. The desirable appearance of a material surface variation such as a burl, for example, would typically exhibit discontinuities, sometimes referred to as “chattering”, such as formed by a scraping tool in the material surface both prior to and subsequent to a scraping tool encountering the burl.
Known constructions of apparatus have been devised in an attempt to produce materials having the desired aspects associated with a distressed material surface. Such constructions have included sanding heads having discontinuities formed therein, molded heads that are placed in a pressurized contact with a material surface, as well as embossing drums or plates. However, all known apparatus have failed to reduce chatter and produce the desired features associated with a distressed material surface.
A device which can maintain the position of a cutting head relative to a cutting surface to reduce chatter, thereby producing the desired features associated with a distressed material surface in a material would be desirable in the art.